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Bridging Research & Practice in Child Psychology
Explore insights from parenting challenges to cutting-edge research... making psychology accessible, practical, and evidence-based.
The Difference Between Dysregulation and Defiance in Kids
Why two behaviors that look almost identical need completely different responses... and how to tell them apart. Your child is on the floor of the grocery store, screaming, and you have about four seconds to decide what's happening. Is this a kid testing limits because the checkout line is boring and whining has worked before? Or is this a kid whose nervous system has genuinely gone offline, who can't hear you, and who isn't choosing this? Those two situations can look almost
7 min read
Getting Kids to Listen...and Getting Kids to Open Up
If you've ever repeated yourself five times before your child finally looked up from their tablet, or asked “how was school?” and gotten a one-word “fine” in return, you're not doing anything wrong. You're running into one of the most common (and most fixable) communication gaps between parents and kids. The good news: the way we talk and the way we listen are both skills. They can be practiced, adjusted, and improved... and small shifts in how a conversation starts can chang
5 min read
ADHD and Dopamine: What's Really Going On in Your Child's Brain
Separating the science from the social-media oversimplification “Dopamine” has become one of the most talked-about words in ADHD conversations across parenting forums, social media, and dinner-table debates about screens, motivation, and “five more minutes.” Parents hear it used to explain everything from why a child can’t start homework to why bedtime turns into a negotiation. But the popular version of the dopamine story, that ADHD simply means a child has “too little” of t
6 min read
Can Anxiety Prompt Executive Function Problems?
Understanding the Link Between Worry and Organization By Dr. McKinzie Duesenberg-Marshall, PhD, LP, NCSP | Minds in Progress, LLC You've probably noticed it: your child seems smart and capable one moment, then completely falls apart trying to organize homework, start a big project, or remember multi-step instructions. If your child also describes feeling worried, anxious, or overwhelmed, you might be wondering if these challenges are connected. The short answer: yes. Anxiety
4 min read
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